Baking -- Not Just for Eating Anymore

For thousands of years, baking has been a means to filling the stomach, satisfying hunger and comforting the soul.  Baking is so much more than a planned and necessary activity.  It has taken decades for cooks to realize how many other uses for baking there really are and how many ways there are to accomplish the task at hand.  

One of many uses for baking is the tremendous need for some sort of therapy.   Asperger’s, a form of autism has found a powerful use for baking as therapy for the hands.  Mothers of Asperger’s patients have noticed the undeniable benefits of cooking as strengthening therapy for joints.  For someone suffering from Asperger’s, you can easily see improvements in an individual that uses baking as a form of therapy as opposed to a person who does no exercises at all.  Something as simple as squeezing a cookie scooper repeatedly has improved the strength in children with Asperger’s.  Though a child may still suffer from Asperger's, one mother mentions that she noticed improvement when her son, who was excitedly able to use the cookie scoop one-handed. When you see the improvements that are exhibited by the baker, you’ll notice not only the ability to perform the task more easily, but he will display confidence.  

People who are talented bakers are only limited by their imagination.  Baking is a talent and should not be confined to making dinner for the family.  With a little bit of research and a little creativity in the kitchen, hundreds of bizarre baking possibilities can turn into reality.  A good imagination and a small degree of hidden talent will open your eyes to a whole new world of baking -- even if it's therapeutic.